PokeWar, Volume 1: The Lost Teacher
by Gillaechus
Summary: For twenty years he stood before giants and villains. Now, it's been nearly a decade since anyone has seen him. Wearied by trial after trial and jaded by the greed of an obsessive race, he retires to a place in the mountains with his wife, hoping to find solace in the solitude. But his mark on the world cannot be forgotten, and the world has need of him yet. A storm is coming.
1. Pilgrims from Johto

**PokeWar, Vol. 1  
The Lost Teacher  
**

 **Chapter 1: Pilgrims from Johto**

Maki Suma had finally caught her break. The usual methods had proven to be fruitless, and she had known they would. She could interview people 'til she was blue in the face, but all she ever got was a name, and not even a surname! Eventually she decided it might be helpful to hire one of those police sketch artists to draw him up— most of the footage captured over the years by onlookers got only glimpses of him; they were all too focused on the strange and mammoth Pokemon (and she couldn't blame them). Once it was completed, she took the photo back to almost _every_ person she interviewed, to confirm if it matched their memories— and let us not forget, she pondered, that meant traveling across _six_ regions of the globe, having already followed whispers and rumors, to track down those who had sighted him _all over again._

And even _that_ hadn't been enough, though she had realized that by the time she left Hoenn. What good would it do to bring a picture to all of them? What were _they_ going to do with it? When she returned home to Johto, she knew that finding information about him was no longer enough. All the boss had asked for was a piece on the mysterious trainer who seemed to appear in the footage of almost _every_ sighting of mythical and legendary Pokemon the world over. And despite the somewhat trivial nature of the piece, as Lead Investigatory Journalist for Kotobuki TV, Maki Suma planned to give it her best shot. She turned down the assignment at first. But when Takahashi gave her three seconds to choose between that and traffic duty, well… that wasn't really a choice, was it?

He didn't have a deadline for the piece; it was just another filler that they'd store away for a rainy day. So she was free to work at it at her leisure. Despite it being the better option of the two, she didn't really want to take it seriously. But as she began to go over the footage that the analysts had been able to compile, she became more and more invested. The Cinnabar Labs incident, the battle of the legendary birds at Orange Islands, the Crystal Tower at Greenfield, the sun scorching of Hoenn, the judgement of Michina, and let's not forget the shaking of the Brass Tower in her own Johto. To have tried to sort through all of it— some thirty or so incidents over the past thirty years alone— was nearly impossible.

And if his connection with nearly _all_ of these events weren't enough to convince her, her interviews with the people who saw, met, and knew him were. Each of them said mostly the same thing: he was largely unimpressive, almost silly, at first. Then things got crazy and he stepped into the middle of it and… and somehow, the storms of catastrophe seemed to be quelled. "There was something… _different_ about him," they'd say. Most of them agreed that it had something to do with the way he was with Pokemon. Sure, he was a trainer, but there was something… something more to it than that. Most people who met a legendary Pokemon either fled or collapsed in shock and awe. But not him, no… not him.

And so she had settled on the matter. It wouldn't be enough to simply do a puff piece on this mysterious figure. And neither would information satisfy the enigma surrounding him and the effect he had had on so many people and Pokemon. She needed to find him. And after nearly four months of searching she had nearly given up. Then Koizumi suggested taking the portrait to a forensic geneticist. He'd seen them on TV, he'd said; they could do those aging process predictor thingies (his words) to figure out what he might look like today. And that was an idea, she had decided. The last footage of him that had been captured was dated to nearly fifteen years ago. Guessing by his appearance at the time, he would have to have been about the age she was now, 25 or so. But it was so spotty, it was really hard to tell.

But, she took his advice and while the scientists eventually needed to see the footage for themselves (a pencil portrait was not enough, they said), they were able to produce a picture of what the man might look like today. That— combined with a _little_ bribe she gave a friend who worked at the uten menkyo sentaa— helped her to get a full name. Oddly, while the name she had received from _every_ one of the interviewees was the same, it wasn't the one attached to the ID that matched his portrait. Yamamoto Hisoka, registered to a little hamlet northeast of Cerulean City in Kanto.

So, she took Koizumi and Kobayashi and they boarded the first train for Kanto available. They would arrive in Cerulean, find the first inn or motel they could find, and immediately begin their investigation. The trip only took them half a day or so, arriving at 4PM Kanto Time. They unloaded their meager baggage (Suma didn't given them much time to prepare) and headed for the Cerulean Motel. Upon opening the door to the one-bed room, Kobayashi went in and collapsed on the bed face first. Koizumi slid into the armchair in the corner, running his hands through his hair and dry washing his face.

"No, no, no!" Suma protested. "We don't have time to rest!"

Kobayashi lifted his face from the bed. "Hey lady!" he cried, "We agreed to come with you on this ridiculous trip! We even agreed to _sleep_ on the _floor_ for however long we were here! At _least_ give us a moment to rest."

Koizumi looked up from his hands, "I don't know how you convinced Takahashi to let you do this. He's pretty worried about you, you know."

"We _all_ are," Kobayashi chimed in, putting his face back into the bed as he spoke. "Your obsession with this piece is getting out of hand."

"You guys just don't understand," she said, sitting down on the bed next to Kobayashi where his limp legs were hanging off the edge. "There's something… _different_ about this guy. Do you have any idea how different the world might be if he hadn't…"

"Hadn't what?" Koizumi chided. "We don't even know what this guy _did!_ For all we know, he was just some guy who happened to be around a series of major events. Like the kid in high school who wanted to be in all the yearbook photo's."

Suma glared at the frustrated boom operator, "You _know_ that's not how it is. You _saw_ what he did in all of that footage."

"Yeah, yeah," Koizumi sighed, putting his face back into his hands.

Kobayashi looked up at Suma, a newly formed question in his eye, "Maki, are you… are you even getting paid for this?"

Suma winced at the question. "Um…"

Kobayashi sat up at that, his agitation growing. " _Maki_ ," he demanded, "are _we_ even getting paid for this?!"

Suma frowned. "I may be reckless, Mr. Kobayashi, but I'm not a scoundrel!" she retorted. "I wouldn't let you work for me for nothing. _I_ will be writing your checks for this venture."

Koizumi looked up, concern on his face. "Maki, you can't afford that, you barely make more than we do."

"I know, I know," she said, waving off his concern sheepishly. "That's why we're staying in a one-bed room, and you're sleeping on the floor… and we'll only be eating twice a day," she mumbled the last. Kobayashi stared at her blankly, then fell abruptly back into the bed. She laughed, standing up and pulling at the dejected camera man. " _Come on_ ," she said. "It's time to get started."

"Ugh, fine," he groaned as he submitted to the small woman's whim. "You're lucky you're pretty, Maki Suma."

She pointed at him as she moved across the room to ready her things. "Watch it Kobayashi Hideki," she said. "I have a boyfriend, you know. And he's even a Pokemon Trainer!"

Kobayashi raised his hands in mock surrender. "Right, whatever you say."

Koizumi chuckled, and Suma stuck her tongue out at both of them before turning and heading for the door.

* * *

At their approach, the gyms bouncer raised his hand. "Woah woah," he said. "What's with the camera? And what do you want?"

He stood blocking their entrance, and the three gave each other nervous glances. Suma stepped forward, brushing her hair out of her eyes and attempting to turn her charm up to ten. "Hi there, fella. We're here to look for a Pokemon Trainer." She smiled as coyly as she could, which was probably not very much at all (her boyfriend told her she had flirted like a Psyduck when they first met).

The man gave her a weird look, confirming Ryuji's words. "Well, you're in the right place— this is the Cerulean Pokemon Gym, after all. But why the camera?" he asked again.

"Weeeelll," Suma said, not giving up on the charm, "we're looking for someone in particular. He's very important and we would like to interview him." She winked this time, going for broke.

The man gave her an uncomfortable look at that. "Lady, you're freakin' me out," he said, deflating her confidence. "Just tell me who you're looking for, and I'll bring 'em out."

Suma nodded, discarding the ruse at last. "His name is Yamamoto Hisoka. But I'm told he goes by a different name… Does the name Ash mean anything to you?"

The bouncer's eyes narrowed, and he spoke low. "Where did you hear that name, girl?" Suma took a step back, as the man suddenly took on an intimidating posture. He eyed them scrupulously, then seemed to decide something for himself. "Wait here." He turned around and went inside.

Kobayashi whistled. "Well, he seems nice."

"Maki, this guy doesn't seem too enthused with your inquiry," Koizumi said. "And I doubt whoever he's going in to get is going to be any more thrilled."

"Yeah, I about peed myself when he glared me down," Suma said, fanning herself.

Kobayashi made a face, "Well that's not very lady-like."

"Did you see his muscles tighten under his T-shirt?" Suma went on, ignoring his comment. "That guy got so tense he could've popped a blood vessel!"

Koizumi squinted at her, "Why do I get the feeling this excites you?"

Kobayashi chuckled, "Because it does."

The bouncer suddenly appeared from behind the double doors of the gym, an orange-haired woman behind him. "That's them, boss," the man said, pointing and returning to his post.

The woman approached, a stern look on her face. Once she was close enough, she stopped and studied them the way the bouncer had. Then she turned and with a wave over her shoulder bade them follow, "Come with me," she said.

The three looked at each other quizzically, but followed the woman around the east side of the gym to where a small house sat. The woman took some keys out of the pockets of the shorts she was wearing, unlocked the door and gestured for them to enter. It was a small place, a living room right at the front with a kitchenette off to the left. A small stairway led up to where the bedroom likely shared the little second story with the only bathroom in the house. A television sat against the wall to their right before a simple couch, and a table was before them, half in the living room and half in the kitchen.

They watched as the woman moved over to the kitchenette, grabbed a bottle of wine and a glass, then sat down and began to pour. After a moment she looked at them somewhat frustratedly, "Sit." Their nervousness broken by the sudden speech, they moved to the table and took their places— Suma nearest the woman, Kobayashi at the end of the table opposite the orange-haired woman, and Koizumi opposite Suma (to capture the sound). Kobayashi began to raise his camera when the woman held out her hand, a challenging look in her eye, "No cameras," she said. Kobayashi gave Suma a look, who nodded, and the man lowered his camera with a frown on his face.

Suma turned to the woman, a little notepad in hand, and began her interview. "Can I ask for your name?"

The woman glanced at the notepad, and with a flick of her head to brush the hair out of her face, she said, "Misty."

Suma wrote it down and then gave the woman a closer look. She was perhaps in her early 40's, and she seemed battle-tested, the wisdom of each match showing in her demeanor. Despite that, she was beautiful. Tall with a petite figure, rich orange hair tied in a tail on the left side of her head, deep blue eyes… "You know," Suma remarked, "I've never met a Kantonese woman with orange hair and blue eyes before."

Misty nodded, taking a pull of the wine. "My father was from Hoenn." She waved her hand, seeming impatient, "Look, can we just get to it already?"

Suma glanced at the other two, then nodded. "We came here looking for someone, someone who seems to be connected with most of the major Pokemon related events over the past three decades. We've been able to track his residence to this area, and we wondered if you'd seen or heard of him?"

Misty nodded and chuckled cynically, "Right. Mr. Yamamoto, wasn't it?"

"Well, yes," Suma agreed cautiously, "but I'm to understand he goes by a different name."

Misty stood up and crossed the room, staring out the window in the kitchenette at the mountains beyond. She took another sip of the wine, and spoke the name aloud fearfully, as if it might summon his ghost. "Ash…"

"Yes, Misty," Suma responded, her excitement mounting. "We've come here looking for Ash."

Misty turned at that and said, "Well I'm afraid you've come for nothing, then," she said. "Because, even if I was willing to tell you where he was, he wouldn't want to see you anyway."

"What?" Suma asked. "Why don't you want us to see him? And why wouldn't he—

"You think a man builds a cottage up in the mountains because he's interested in taking visitors?" Misty asked.

Suma nodded gingerly, "Ah, I see. And how long has he been up there?"

Misty sighed, returning to the table and placing the glass next to the bottle before her. "I don't know. It's got to be almost ten years, now."

Suma swallowed nervously as she prepared to ask the next question, "This seems to trouble you, Misty. Can… can I ask why?"

Misty looked up at that, studying Suma closely. "What do you want, girl?"

Suma sighed. "Please, address me with my name, Maki. You may even use my given name if you like— Suma."

Misty shook her head. "Alright. What do you want, Suma?"

Suma took a moment to consider the question before answering. "I want to… I don't know, I want to _understand_ , I guess."

Misty seemed surprised by the answer. "Understand… what?"

Suma absentmindedly put down her notepad as she began to explain— her hands always moved as she spoke. "Look, I've spoken with nearly a hundred people across the world who have known, met, or even just _seen_ this guy. I've puzzled through the core of thirty years' worth of major world incidents, surveyed the effects and changes upon the area and people around them, and all of it— _all of it_ — seems to have ridden on this man's involvement. This man has probably saved the world a couple dozen times, and most certainly has changed people's lives in the process, so…" Suma's face contorted with the emotion she felt. "I want to understand… who he is. And why… why he's stopped."

Misty sat back, her hands over her mouth. "S-stopped what?" she asked.

Suma took a deep breath and blew it out shortly, and shrugged. "Stopped _helping_ , I guess."

Misty closed her eyes, and seemed to fight back tears. Suma haphazardly rummaged through her purse for tissue and handed it to Misty, who took it with thanks and wiped her face a bit. Suma entreated her gently, "Look, I understand if you don't feel comfortable telling me where I can find him. I'm determined to do it, so with or without your help I will find him. But can you," she paused, "can you at least tell me something about him?"

Misty looked at Suma cautiously before answered, "His name is Ash Ketchum, and he was born in Pallet Town, southwest of here. I met him almost thirty years ago, just as he was beginning his journey across Kanto to become a Pokemon Trainer." She stopped and smiled, perhaps considering the next thought, "I was only thirteen… he was ten years old!"

"So I take it you traveled together?" Suma asked, lifting her notepad and resuming her transcription.

Misty nodded. "A group of us, we travelled across several regions for a couple years… I had to stop because I needed to take over this gym for my sisters."

"Were you a part of any of the incidents I mentioned?" Suma asked.

Misty gave Suma a pained look. "Suma, I don't think you really understand what you're talking about. But yes… I was there."

Suma felt her eyebrows jump. "What do you mean?"

Misty took another sip of the wine before her. "The news stations, Kotobuki TV," she pointed at the armband on Suma's right arm, "you guys called them… The 'Cinnabar Labs incident', or the 'Hoenn Draught incident'… but you don't really understand what happened at all."

Suma leaned in at that. "Well, could you help me to understand?"

Misty shook her head. "Everyone agreed that some things were better left out of the news… If people really realized how great these Pokemon's influence over the world was, they'd go nuts."

Suma nodded. "Well, thats neither here nor there, I suppose. What I'm interested in is the man who seemed to solve all of these problems."

Misty laughed. "Ash didn't do all that. I mean, yeah, without him things would have turned out horribly, but…" Misty shook her head. "He's such a klutz, stumbling into trouble and stumbling out of it. He gets so tripped up that the world trips out of it with him."

"I don't understand…" Suma said.

Misty nodded. "He was just being himself," she said with a smile. "Not that he didn't do great things or fight hard to see things go well, but… he was just being who he was."

Suma sat back. "You really care for him, don't you?"

Misty nodded, her eyes becoming distant. "He was… my best friend."

"Was?" Suma asked.

Misty's reverie was broken and she looked back at the reporter. "I haven't seen or spoken to him in nearly ten years."

Suma was surprised to hear this. "What? But doesn't he live just a stone's throw away from you?"

"Like I said," Misty answered, "He isn't really interested in taking visitors. I go up there to drop off supplies for him— some foodstuffs, general household needs, but I don't ever see him."

"So he just lives up there alone?" Suma asked.

Misty shook her head. "No, his wife lives with him."

"Why is he up there, Misty?" Suma asked.

Misty looked away. "Something happened… he lost someone and,... and something innocent in him died. He went up there to mourn them, and it… and then never came down."

Kobayashi spoke up, "I'm surprised his wife would consent to living like a hermit."

Misty shook her head, looking at the man. "She knew him before it happened… loved him before that piece of him was lost. I think she stayed with him because… because no matter how broken the man is, it's still him. She's one of the few who could look past that bitterness and still see his heart."

"Could you?" Suma asked.

Misty nodded. "I mean, I knew him almost as long as _she_ did, but… even those of us closest to him couldn't reach him anymore. No matter how hard we chased, we couldn't catch up. It's hard to outrun a man when he's running from himself."

"I see," Suma said, pausing in her writing.

Koizumi cleared his throat. "I hate to interrupt, Maki," he said. "But are we going to get any of this on camera? We _did_ come an awfully long way…"

Suma looked at Kobayashi, who was watching her carefully. After a moment, Suma shook her head. "No, I… I don't think that would be kind." She stood, Kobayashi and Koizumi standing after her. To Misty, she said, "I thank you for taking the time to speak with us. Meeting you only confirms what I had imagined about him— he deeply affects the world around him. I really do believe that people need to know about him, need to consider just what it is that makes him who he is. We need more people like him, Misty."

Misty stood slowly, and after a moment looked Suma in the eye. "I'll take you to see him."

Both Kobayashi and Koizumi became excited, and Suma gestured for them to settle down. She looked back at Misty, "Are you sure?"

Misty nodded. "You're not the only person who has come here looking for him. Most people come because they want to know how to meet legendary Pokemon, so they can capture them. But that's not how Ash did things… never once did he attempt to master any one of them, he respected them too much. But you… you might actually get him to…" Misty stopped and started looking about the room, as if she just remembered something.

Suma started looking around too, "What is it?"

"My phone," Misty said, moving about. "We'll need to warn Ami."

"Ami?" Kobayashi asked.

Misty nodded as she found the phone an began dialing. "His wife." She stood there for a few moments while it rang. When the person at the other end picked up, the muffled voice wasn't clear enough to make out what was being said. "Ami? It's me… yeah I know, I haven't called in a while. Look, I need to come up to the cottage. …Well, there are some people here, a woman from Kotobuki— Ami, Ami, calm down… she's not going to do that. …I know because I've just spent half hour or so talking with her. … _Yes_ I trust her. I think…" she paused, considering her words, "…I think she can help him. …I know, I know, but I wouldn't even consider it if I didn't really believe it— you _know_ that. …I really do, Ami. She's not like the rest. She's… _different."_

She paused, and the voice on the other end was silent as well. They waited for what felt like minutes, and then Misty breathed a silent sigh of relief. "Ok, then we'll be on our way up right away. …I will— and Ami? Please don't shoot, ok? …" After a moment she hung up and put the phone down. She went over to the closet and pulled out a red backpack, dusting it off. She unzipped it, peeked in for a moment, then closed it and slung it over her back.

She turned to face the group. "You'll want to wear those equipment bags over your shoulders, boys, we've got a long walk ahead of us."

"What do you mean?" Suma asked.

"Well, he _does_ live up in the mountains, after all," Misty said. "We've got a little bit of a hike ahead of us."

Suma nodded. "Ah, ok," she said. She looked at the other two with a grin and snapped her fingers. "You heard her— Kobayashi, Koizumi, _suit up!_ "

Kobayashi raised a finger inquiringly looking to Misty, and asked, "Ah, what was that last bit about shooting?"

Misty pursed her lips as if she were thinking about it, then shrugged and made for the door. Kobayashi and Koizumi both shared nervous glances.


	2. The Man of the Mountain

**Chapter 2: The Man of the Mountain**

 _"_ _A little bit of a hike,"_ Kobayashi said, panting. "We've been climbing for _over an hour_ , and the incline is just getting steeper."

"Ok," Misty said nonchalantly. "Maybe I under-exaggerated." Suma chuckled at that last bit as she painstakingly worked her way up amid the trees and stones.

" _Maybe_?" Koizumi chimed in. "The path you led us on was so twisty-turny I got sea-sick and threw up half an hour ago. Now we've left any _semblance_ of a path, and I don't even know if we're going _north_ or d _own_ anymore."

"Those two don't go together, Koizumi," Suma commented quietly.

Misty looked back at the two men and said, "Aw, yer bein' a couple a cupcakes! Just come on!"

Suma snorted at that, and looked back at them gleefully. " _Cupcakes_ ," she echoed, laughing.

"You're not doing much better than _we_ are, Maki Suma," Koizumi admonished.

She gave him a sassy look, "At least I ain't _whinin'_."

Kobayashi huffed as he pulled himself up by a tree. "Wait wait wait wait," he said. "I need a break."

Misty stopped and turned. "Oh, come _on_ ," she groaned.

"We're not built for this sort of stuff!" Koizumi protested.

" _Clearly_!" Misty retorted. "By the looks of you two, I'd have to say you live on a strict diet of dry rice! You're so gangly you could hide behind these trees!" She turned and continued her way up.

Suma cracked up at that. Kobayashi frowned, "I'll have you know that Koizumi and I have joined a gym back home!"

Koizumi chimed in, "Yeah— with _intense_ personal trainers!"

Suma chuckled incredulously, "Right, I'm sure you have."

"We _have!_ " Kobayashi retorted.

"Quiet down!" Misty whispered harshly. "We're nearly there." The incline rose into something of a little cliff, and Misty hoisted herself up and over the edge. She took a knee and helped the others over as they reached the top. Once all of them were over, they observed the way ahead. It was a plateau of sorts, that moved at a slight uphill incline to a point about a hundred yard ahead of them where it leveled off. The forest was still fairly thick about them, but Suma thought she smelled smoke coming from some place in the distance.

Misty turned to look at them, whispering, "In about 200 yards or so, we'll come to a clearing where the cottage is. _Don't_ go past the tree-line until I've given you the all clear. Got it?"

Suma nodded, but Kobayashi whispered back, "Why are we whispering?"

Misty turned and moved off as she whispered her response, "There are Pokemon up ahead— I don't want to startle them."

They shortly came to the clearing Misty mentioned. Koizumi apparently forgot the warning Misty had given, and he moved right into the clearing. The moment his body was fully in the open, the sound of a gunshot erupted from inside the house, and the tree nearest Koizumi exploded a little from the impact of the bullet. Startled by the sound, Koizumi squealed and collapsed to the ground, clawing at the ground to get back into the tree-line.

Misty shook her head as Suma and Kobayashi knelt next to Koizumi to reassure the frightened man. "I warned him," she said. She turned and moved into the clearing, raising her hands in surrender. "I asked you not to shoot, Ami!" she shouted.

A voice called from within the house, "You knew I would anyway, didn't you?"

Misty nodded, lowering her hands with a sigh. "Yeahp, sure did," she said, almost to herself. Suddenly the door opened and a small woman came out holding a rifle. Misty turned as the woman approached, "Come on out, you guys, it's alright now."

Kobayashi stuck his head from around the tree, pointing at the rifle in the woman's hand. "Uh-uh— not with that thing pointing at us." Suma made a face and gave him a hard shove, thrusting him suddenly out into the open, and she gave Koizumi a swift kick in the ribs to get him going too. She stepped out and stood next to Misty, the two men cowering behind them. The woman before them was a head and a half shorter than Misty, and perhaps even smaller in form. "I don't know about this, Misty," she said, pointing the gun at Suma.

"Ami, you're being a little ridiculous," Misty said, approaching and snatching the rifle away. Ami grasped at it but couldn't reach— Misty held it just too high. "Thirty years, Misty," she grunted, jumping to try and reach the rifle, "and you're still doing this to me? When are you going to grow up?"

Misty cracked a grin. "When are _you_ going to _grow_?"

Ami stopped hopping and sighed. "Set myself up for that one. You get me with it every time."

Misty nodded, "Yeahp," and she handed the rifle back to the shorter woman.

Ami stepped forward and eyed Suma and the others suspiciously. "What do you want?"

Suma stepped forward and bowed as humbly as she knew how to. "My name is Maki Suma, and I am an investigatory journalist at Kotobuki TV." She stood back up, "We've come to talk with your husband."

Ami nodded. "Yeah, I heard," she said, still somewhat hostile. "But why?"

Suma took a deep breath, doing her best to contain both her frustration and her impatience. "Ma'am, after careful consideration of nearly a hundred first-hand reports, hours of footage spanning three decades, and the meticulously studied contrasts between lives and places before your husbands involvement, as well as the _potential_ effects of his absence…" Suma sighed, dropping her manners. She couldn't contain it anymore. "Listen. I'm here because I think there's something about your husband that people need to know. He's saved too many lives, resolved too many catastrophes, to walk away scot-free. We need to be able to learn from him, or who knows what the future might hold."

As she spoke, the features of the woman before her began to soften, but seemed no less troubled. After a moment or two of silence, Ami put her rifle on safety. To Misty, "I can see why you said what you did." Misty nodded, emotion showing clearly in her eyes.

Suma looked from woman to woman. "You both agree with me, don't you?" Each woman hesitated, but then nodded. "I respect your desire to protect him," Suma said, "You love him, and that is very clear. But if it weren't for him, this world would be a very different place. I want to do my very best to help others see what you see, so that they can see for themselves how much the world needs a person like him."

Ami looked at Misty, the last of her reluctance beginning to wane. Then she looked at Suma, "Follow me around the back of the house. He's there with a few of the visitors. But be gentle, as they can startle easily." She turned and began to make her way around the house.

Kobayashi said, "I thought he didn't take visitors?"

"Not people," Misty clarified, "Pokemon." Kobayashi nodded as they reached the house. Once around the corner, they saw before them something they had not expected. Three Pokemon were seated in the grass, conversing as though they were _people_ — a Charizard, a Caterpie, and a Pidgeotto. With them sat a man, and he seemed to be talking with them. He wore blue jeans and a black t-shirt, and had a wild crop of black hair on top of his head. It looked as though he had been wearing a hat or something recently, but had just taken it off.

At the sound of footsteps approaching, the man turned to look over his shoulder. "Oh, hello dear," he said. When he noticed Suma and the others behind her, he stood, losing his relaxed expression. "I was wondering what the gunshot was about. You're lucky our friends have gotten used to it."

Ami put her hands together before her, in a supplicating gesture. "I'm sorry, my love. I was just… greeting our guests." She turned and gestured to the group behind her.

Ash stepped forward, examining them for himself. Suma had certainly had enough of being studied for one day. "Hello," she said, "My name is Maki Suma." She said the last with a not-too-deep-but-courteous bow.

When she stood again, she found the man still studying her, and her irritation dissipated as the man's intimidating aura washed over her. He was perhaps a little shorter than Misty, but seemed to bear an even deeper presence than she had. Ryuji had mentioned this to her before, saying that the most experienced trainers took on a demeanor similar to that of a soldier— someone who has seen their fair share of battle. It rubbed off on you, changed you, he'd say. Undoubtedly, the countless crises he found himself in over the years had left their mark.

Something in the man seemed to relent, and he smiled as he had when sitting with the Pokemon. "My wife told me you would be coming. I admit, I'm not used to taking human visitors anymore, and I'll also admit I'm not too fond of the idea of being on camera."

Suma raised her hands in mock surrender, "That's fine, we don't have to do this on camera." This provoked a groan from both Kobayashi and Koizumi, which the entire group had the grace to ignore. Suma continued, "I just want to talk to you."

Ash seemed to hesitate, then turned to Ami. "It's ok," he said. "You can go back inside if you like."

She stepped forward, dropping the rifle where she stood. With a glance at Suma and the others, she said, "Are you sure?"

He smiled into her eyes, and brushed the black hair out of her face, kissing her on the forehead. He nodded, "I am."

With one more concerned look, she turned, picked up the rifle and left. Suma was thankful that she had seen that brief moment, had been able to see the tenderness in Ami for her husband. The fear and brashness melted away, and something warm and loving radiated from her. She didn't have the exotic, foreign beauty Misty did, but there was something there in the soul that made her shine. Suma turned back to Ash, "Your wife is lovely, sir."

Ash smiled wider than Suma thought his face capable of, "That she is. She's a treasure, to be sure."

"How did you meet her?" Suma asked.

He looked at his bare feet with a chuckle, "She's the daughter of one of my childhood neighbors. She was probably six or seven when I left Pallet Town. When," he paused, seeming to stumble over a startling subject, "when my mother died, Ami came to the funeral to pay her respects. I took a year or so out of my travels to live in my old home— as a way of grieving, I suppose. Ami and I built a friendship, began to see each other more and more and eventually… well, you know how the rest goes," he said, the last with a laugh.

Suma smiled, then peered around him. "And who are your friends?"

Ash turned and then smacked himself on the forehead. "How rude of me!" he said. He moved over to the group of Pokemon. "I'm sorry for the interruption everyone, I forgot to mention we would shortly receive some unexpected visitors." The Pidgeotto and Caterpie seemed to shuffle about, chirping at Ash. He nodded, "I understand perfectly. You know where to find me if you'd like to talk again. I've enjoyed visiting with you." With a wave, he turned back to the travelers as the Pokemon moved off into the forest.

Suma felt her eyebrows leap. "You… you understand them?"

Ash scratched his head and laughed. "Well, not in the sense that I can understand you, what you're saying, anyway. I don't really know if they really understand _our_ words, either. But I think they get our meaning, and I like to think I get theirs."

Suma nodded, then gestured to the Charizard behind him. "Is this… _your_ Charizard?"

Ash's smile faltered for a moment, then he nodded, "I was once his trainer, yes."

Suma's brow furrowed. "Was once?"

The Charizard behind him grumbled, and Ash turned about. "Well, can you blame her for being curious? You _are_ pretty intimidating." The Charizard seemed to chortle, then lay down on the ground and closed its eyes.

"How long ago was it that you trained this Charizard?" Suma asked.

Ash turned back to her, no longer smiling. Again, he seemed to study the group of people, then finally turned to look at Misty. "Why did you bring these people up here, Misty?" Misty just stood there, glaring at him. Suma hadn't realized it until right now, but Misty hadn't said a word since they turned the corner and Ash came into view. After what felt like minutes, Misty crossed the distance between them and slapped him fully in the face. Caught off guard his body reeled with the impact, but he regained his composure and clutched at his face. " _Oowww!_ What was _that_ for?!"

" _What was that for?!"_ Misty repeated. "Is that the best you can come up with?!" She grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pulled his face close to hers, and he raised his hands next to his face in genuine surrender.

"What's gotten _into_ you?!" he cried.

" _What's gotten into me_?!" she repeated. "You haven't seen me in _ten years_ , and all you can say is ' _what was that for'_ and ' _what's gotten into you_ '?!" Her voice cracked shrilly as she reproached him. "One day you just show up at my gym. You tell me you bought the old patch of land up on Hermit's Hill, that you're gonna move up there and build a cottage to be alone for a while. You tell me not to come up and see you. You tell me not to call, you tell me not to write. You don't _explain_ , you don't _listen_ , and you don't give _a second thought_ to how _I feel_!"

She slapped him two more times as tears began to run freely down her face, her voice straining with emotion. "You _selfish_ , _inconsiderate_ , son of a—

"Misty, _calm down!"_ Ash shouted, trying to break free.

Misty did not relent but slapped him again, and he yelped under the blow. "Don't you tell me to _calm down!_ I've got _ten years_ of frustration built up and by _Arceus_ you're going to listen to me now!" She just stood there now, panting and glaring at him, and after a moment pulled him into a hug, burying her face in his neck and weeping. Ash sighed and smiled sadly, returning the hug.

* * *

After their emotional reunion, Ash sent for his wife and had her escort Misty into the house. Suma imagined that she would probably remain behind after she and the other two left, to settle old wounds and reconcile abandoned coasts. She hadn't considered that Misty's hesitation to lead them up to see Ash might be so personal… Further, she hadn't expected such an emotional outburst. She liked to consider herself a fairly traveled woman (thanks to her escapades over the past year…), but it always came as something of a shock to her when she saw how different people from other regions could be.

Ash stood at the corner of the house, speaking low with his wife. She kept glancing at Suma and the others nervously, and Ash continued to reassure her and prod her back towards the front. Eventually she turned and went back, and Ash returned to face the group. He gestured to the ground before him, "Sit."

So, Suma sat, and after a moment's hesitation Kobayashi and Koizumi joined her. She began to speak, "Thank you for—

But Ash held up his hand, interrupting. "I went to incredible lengths to change my identity, because I wanted to be left alone. Then, I moved with my wife up a mountain where we built a little cottage, because I wanted to be left alone. When you arrived here, looking for me, you were warned by one of my best friends that I wanted to be left alone. And while I didn't exactly ask my wife to shoot at trespassers to scare them off, I let her— because I want to be left alone."

Suma nodded slowly, growing nervous. "Y-yes, I understand that. Perhaps I have been… somewhat presumptuous in my attempts to locate you."

Ash smiled, clearly frustrated but a little levity shining through. "A little?" he laughed. "Are you _sure_ you're from Johto?"

Suma frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?" she asked. "And how did you know I was from Johto?"

"Your bow," he answered. "I don't know if you remember, but that's not something we do here in Kanto anymore. At least, not in the past three or four hundred years."

Suma's frown deepened. "Oh. Well, we're not all so repressed, _Mr. Yamamoto._ And I'll thank you not to make racist comments or to make fun of—

Ash waved his hands, now somewhat uncomfortable himself. "Woah woah woah, hold on. Yeah, that was a little bit too far. I'm sorry."

Suma nodded, letting out a deep breath. "You can pay me back by answered a few questions."

Ash sighed. "Well, I guess you've got me by the short hairs on this one." He waved his hand, "Fine."

Suma nodded enthusiastically, grinning, "Good." She got out her notepad. Kobayashi and Koizumi started shuffling, but she gestured for them to be still. As they groaned, she began her questioning, "Name and age."

Ash rested his chin on his hand as he crossed his legs, "Ash Ketchum, thirty-nine years."

Suma penned his response and pulled several photographs out of the bag at her side, handing them to Ash. "Please examine these photos, Mr. Ketchum."

He gave her a quizzical look as he took them, "What are they?"

"They are screenshots of footage recorded over the past thirty years— footage of events involving mysterious and powerful Pokemon," Suma responded.

After a few moments of studying them closely, Ash looked up at her, "Are these photos… of me?"

Suma got her notepad at the ready, "So then you would identify the person shown to be involved in these incidents to be yourself?"

With reluctance, Ash nodded. "Yes." A thought seemed to occur to him, "Y-you're not going to ask me… to explain each of these to you… are you?"

Suma paused, considering her words, then shook her head. "No. Not right now, and not unless you really want to. I'm planning on staying in Cerulean for a little while, so if you're not feeling up to it right now, then maybe another time."

Ash visibly deflated at that. "You're pretty determined, aren't you?" he said, frowning.

Suma nodded, smiling sweetly and attempting to turn on her charm again. "Oh yes, Mr. Ketchum. Quite determined."

Ash nodded, resigned to the state of things. "Ok. So what else do you want to know?"

"Why are you up here, Mr. Ketchum?" Suma asked.

Ash gave her a look, then set the photos on the ground before her. "Do you see these pictures?" he asked. She nodded, and he continued, "Do you have any idea how many people _saw_ all of this, saw what I did?"

"Well," Suma remarked, "these _were_ taken from footage used in real news coverage."

Ash shook his head. "No. These are all taken from a distance. I mean the people who were _there_ , people who saw this in person."

"Oh," Suma responded. "Well, I suppose a lot of people."

Ash nodded. "Right. That's a lot of people who saw me interacting with these Pokemon."

Suma nodded, though didn't catch his meaning. "I'm sorry, I don't understand what you're getting at."

Ash sighed. "Look, after these things continued to happen, people began to approach me. They wanted me to… take them to these Pokemon, show them how to interact with these Pokemon."

Suma felt her eyebrows jump up. "Why?"

Ash took a deep breath, and gave her a pitiful look. "Because they wanted to _capture_ them, Ms. Maki. Because they wanted to control them. I don't believe mankind was meant to control so much power. Do you?"

Suma felt her brow furrow, and she took a moment to consider his words. Then her eyes went wide. "Oh."

Kobayashi sat back, running his hands through his hair. "That actually… makes a lot of sense."

Koizumi chimed in, "But how is it you…" he couldn't find the words to finish his thought.

Ash gave him a quizzical look, and Suma finished the thought for him, "I think I know where he's going— how is it that these incredible Pokemon seemed to… respond to you?"

Ash nodded knowingly. "I wondered that myself, for years. The truth is, I was terrible with Pokemon when I first got started," he said, and then his eyes went distant as he chuckled. "My gosh, I actually _leashed_ Pikachu and dragged him half of the way to Veridian City!" He shook his head with another laugh, then continued. "Pikachu taught me to relate to Pokemon in a different way. I think the real clincher was when I let Pikachu decide whether or not he would live inside his Pokeball."

Suma blinked, "You mean… you let your Pikachu just… walk around with you?"

Ash nodded. "Most people had similar reactions, Ms. Maki. I let Pikachu make his own decisions, and I think that carried over into my relationships with all of the other Pokemon I trained."

Koizumi shook his head, "But… I don't understand. You let _all_ of your Pokemon choose whether or not they stayed in their Pokeballs?"

Ash shook his head, "No, no, no. I hadn't developed the… sentiments, then that I have now."

Kobayashi sat back with a strange look on his face, and pointed at Ash. "Oh, I think I see where you're going. Suma turned to look at him, then back at Ash. Kobayashi shook his finger at Ash as he continued to work things out in his head, "Those ancient Pokemon… they could see it, couldn't they? They could see that you looked at them differently."

Ash watched the man as he spoke, then nodded. "Yeah, I think thats exactly why," he said. He looked from person to person, "Look, Pokemon aren't human beings, and contrary to what Team Plasma had to say, I don't think thats either how they _need_ to be treated nor how they _want_ to be treated. But after years of thinking about it, I believe they _were_ on to something— maybe just in the opposite extreme."

Suma shook her head. "I'm sorry, Mr. Ketchum, but I _still_ don't understand."

Ash sighed. "To be plain, Ms. Maki, I believe that these ancient Pokemon respected me because I respected _them—_ Pokemon in general. I respected their free will, their identity. I didn't try to _tame_ them, I simply tried to _train_ them."

Suma made a face, "So, what, nobody else respects Pokemon?"

Ash shrugged. "There's apparently enough of a difference that millennia-old Pokemon picked me to rely on over anyone else."

Kobayashi nodded ironically, "Fair enough."

Ash appealed to them with a supplicating gesture, "Look, I'm not trying to tear down your world view, here. I'm just saying that the way I relate to Pokemon is different than most, and I have some experiences," he pointed at the photos on the ground, "that back that up."

Suma took a deep breath and nodded, "Ok. I mean, it's kind of hard to argue with…" she looked at the pictures. "I'm sorry, I don't even know what Pokemon these are."

Ash laughed. "Something tells me they'd prefer it that way." Charizard stirred behind him, and Ash turned to observe the Pokemon. The Pokemon had lifted his head, and was sniffing at the wind to the south. He began to move as if to rise, but then hesitated. Ash stood at that, "What is it old friend?" The Charizard grumbled, nodding off to the south. Ash nodded, "Go ahead. Just… be gentle," he said the last with a pleading gesture. The Charizard chortled then cut the air with it's wings and rose into the sky, soaring off to the south. Ash turned and returned to the group.

"What was that about?" Kobayashi asked.

Ash shrugged, "He smelled something unfamiliar. Went to check it out."

"Hey," Suma said, as she looked about, "If you're a Pokemon trainer… then where are all your _other_ Pokemon?"

Ash smiled. "I'm not a trainer anymore. I don't have any Pokemon— I released them all to the wild."

Koizumi pointed with a thumb behind him, off to the south, "Then what about that thing?"

Ash waved him off, "Ah, he's just visiting. He comes by a couple times a year. Most of them did while they were young enough." He laughed as a thought occurred to him, "Actually, out of all of them I would have _least_ expected him to be a frequent visitor."

"Why is that?" Suma asked.

"Well," Ash began explaining, "I mentioned Pikachu before as being one of the first who taught me how to relate to Pokemon. Charizard was another good teacher." Ash scratched the back of his head, and winced. "A difficult one, at that. He hardly listened to me for years. But we eventually came to understand each other." Ash sat forward, "Ms. Maki?"

Suma felt her eyebrows rise. "Uh, yes?"

"Why are we still sitting here?" Ash asked. "What is it you came here looking for?"

Suma scratched her head. "Uh… well…" She was actually caught off guard by the question. What _was_ the object of this interview?

Ash smiled, and Suma thought there was a little frustration in his expression. "The only reason I haven't insisted you leave— _let alone_ challenge your insinuation that you'd return for a second visit— is because it has become apparent to me that you have no desire to take control of these powerful Pokemon. And what's more, we've been talking for nearly a half hour, and you haven't even turned on your cameras. Why are you here, Ms. Maki?"

* * *

"How about that place?" Kobayashi asked, pointing to the Café next to the Pokemon Center.

Koizumi squinted at it and shook his head, "Nah, they'll probably only have panini's and chips— it's a Café, not a restaurant!"

Suma hung her head with a sigh, then gave Koizumi an exasperated look, "Will you just _pick_ already? We've been walking for fifteen minutes and I think we're running out of options! This isn't Saffron or Goldenrod, you know."

Koizumi groaned, "Ugh, fine! Let's eat at the burger joint— no, the Café!"

Kobayashi and Suma both gave him looks, and then the group turned to move towards the Café. And that's what it was called; not _Café Rosalia,_ or _Café Estaban_ — just _Café._ Suma shrugged, at least they _had_ places like this out here. It probably took the guys so long to choose because they were so used to the selection they had in Johto. It was a much more urban place, after all, and Kanto was by far a more rural setting. When she visited the smaller towns and villages of Kanto, some of the locals idea of "eating out" was just eating at somebody else's place instead of at home.

She wasn't paying attention, and one of the customers leaving— a man wearing a green trench coat— suddenly burst through the door as she approached it. The door hit her in the face, she tumbled back and landed on her backside, and the man moved abruptly past her. "Watch it, lady!" he said gruffly.

Both Kobayashi and Koizumi hesitated before scrambling to help her up. Once she was on her feet again, Kobayashi turned and shook his fist at the man who knocked floored her, who had already moved a considerable distance down the sidewalk. "Hey, that's no way to treat a _lady_ , pal!" The man didn't even turn, but just kept walking until he turned a corner and disappeared. Koabayashi turned and made a face at Suma, pointing in the man's general direction with a thumb over his shoulder, "So much for those country manners, huh?"

Suma nodded. "Let's just get inside— I'm _starving!_ " Both men nodded, and they moved in and sat themselves down. The server leaning against the bar pushed off and crossed the small, one room building. She greeted them cordially, and quickly took food and drink orders on her little notepad before shoving the pencil behind her ear and returning to her post.

Kobayashi and Koizumi shared glances and then Kobayashi said, "So, Suma… I feel like our departure from Hermit Hill was a little… sudden."

Koizumi stared at the table and mumbled, "You stood up, said 'bye', and practically jogged down the mountain."

Suma scratched her head and laughed, "Ha ha, yeah… I guess it was a little sudden, wasn't it?"

Kobayashi just looked at her, then shook his head with a sigh. "Suma, this really isn't funny. I know you're… what, _five_ or _ten_ years younger than us? But this whole thing has been _really_ impulsive, even for _you._ "

Suma frowned and nodded. "I-I know. I do know that."

Koizumi tried to smile reassuringly. "Look, maybe we can just talk through this, right here. That way, when we go back, we can be sure to get what we came for."

Kobayashi patted his friend on the back and grinned, "Good thinking, ol' pal." He turned to Suma, "What do you say? Just help us to understand what's goin' on in that noggin of yours."

Suma nodded, feeling a little more at ease though still anxious to prove herself. "O-ok. Well, I suppose we already got some of the details we came for, to start off with."

Kobayashi's eyebrows jumped. "Oh? Like what?"

Suma held out her hand, counting each point upon a finger, "Well, first off we learned that the pictures _are_ of him. Next, we were able to learn that these ancient Pokemon saw something special in him. Then, we learned that this 'special something' has been nurtured throughout his travels and experiences as a trainer!"

Kobayashi nodded, "Good, good Suma. These are all very good points. But what is it about them that will be important to our audiences?"

"Right," Koizumi agreed, "it's not enough to just give them meaningful information— they need to be able to do something with it. There needs to be a reason for them to know it."

Suma took a deep breath and nodded. "Uh-huh. I guess my reasons for coming are kind of… personal."

Koizumi squinted, "Personal? What do you mean?"

"I mean," Suma said with a reassuring gesture, "I think it could be important to _everyone_ , but for now I suppose it's just… important to me."

Kobayashi nodded slowly. "Mhm. Maybe you can explain it to us?"

Koizumi shrugged, "Yeah. Why not use us as your sounding board? Who knows, you might be right."

Suma held her breath for a moment, then just let it out. "Listen, you guys are old enough that you can remember what things were like before… before Giovanni, before Team Rocket and the plethora of their reiterations, before the catastrophes and tragedies."

Kobayashi held up his hands, "Woah, Suma. It's not like your generation is the only one to see it's share of hard times."

Suma shook her head, "Of course, but has it _ever_ been like it has been in the past thirty years or so? I took history class too, you know. The last time things were this bad was when the regions were still warring with each other— probably some one thousand years or so ago." Both men glanced at each other, seemingly at a loss for what to say. Suma continued, "Things have been headed in a bad direction for a while now, and this slump is the only thing my generation has known. Most of us are really jaded, even _desensitized_ to the violence and brutality of it all. I mean, for _Arceus' sake_ , you guys, people are _dying_ every other day in _this_ attack, or in _that_ raid. And don't even get me _started_ on the big stuff…"

Kobayashi sat back. "You're really passionate about this, aren't you?"

Suma nodded, "Yeah, I suppose I am. Sooner or later we're gonna be all that's left, and I don't know what we're gonna do when that happens."

Kobayashi sat forward, "Ok, good. So how does Ash come into this?"

Their conversation was interrupted as the server brought their food to the table. Suma was glad for the interruption, as she was famished. Koizumi had been right— all they had were panini's and soups, but that was just fine by her. She ordered the beef stew and dug into it gladly, shoveling the stew into her mouth. As she went at it, she looked up and realized the two men were staring at her… she was so hungry she forgot to use her _in-public eating manners_. She wiped the stew dripping from her chin down her neck with the napkin before her, then placed it upon her lap with the most feminine grace she could conjure up. Glaring at the two men, she said, "You will tell _no one_ what it is you have just witnessed."

Both men nodded silently, and they resumed eating quietly for a few minutes. When the awkwardness of the moment passed, Suma spoke, "So, Ash… Things got bad sometimes on his travels— science experiments gone wrong, legends come alive, gods and demons… But he went right into it, stared danger in the face. And the courage was just the spark, the fire is his ability to relate with Pokemon. I think… no, I _know_ , if we are going to prepare ourselves to respond to the villains of this world, then we _need_ more people like that."

Kobayashi snapped, "And there it is!"

Koizumi nodded, garbling out the words as he chewed, "Knew ya had it in ya."

Suma gave them both a look. "You mean… you weren't going to… make me go… back?"

Both men laughed. Kobayashi said, "No, no. I never even _said_ that, Suma. Sheesh. Look, you may be young and impulsive, but Takahashi made you the L.I.J. for a reason. We know you know what you're doing."

Koizumi nodded, "Yeah, we just wanted to prod you along a little, that's all."

Suma felt relieved. "Ok. Well, thanks I guess. I haven't really been able to articulate just what it is I'm trying to do here until now."

Kobayashi took a bite of his sandwich, and asked between chews, "So… what's the game plan then for when we go back?"

Suma thought about it for a moment. It really wouldn't be worth much to just… have him _explain_ what makes his methods different. People will need to see it, and they'll need to be able to… well, try it on for size. Like Kobayashi said, they'll need something they can _do_ with it. So, she nodded and said, "I'm gonna have him teach me how to do what he does, and _you're_ gonna get it on camera."

Kobayashi and Koizumi looked at each other with a grin, and the three of them raised a toast before taking drinks.


	3. The Bad Man

**Chapter 3: The Bad Man**

"You want me to _hwut_?" Ash asked.

Suma shook her head. "I really don't feel like it was all that vague of a request. But for good measure, I'll say it again— I want you to teach me to… _relate_ to Pokemon the way you do."

Ash scratched his head at the words. Suma wasted no time once the three of them had settled things the other night. She spent the whole next day preparing an itinerary of questions that would help her to extract the information she was looking for, as well as preparing ideal shots with Kobayashi and Koizumi that would lend to the credit of the piece. Takahashi wasn't really looking for a 30 minute special, just a three or four minute fluff… so if she was going to present all of this as something worth _much_ more investigation and air time, she was going to need to pack quite the punch.

The following morning— two days after first meeting Ash— Suma and the others rose shortly after dawn and made their way back up the mountain. Neither Ami nor Ash had been surprised to see them: apart from Suma's clearly stated intentions to visit them again, Charizard had been looking out for her and the men. Upon catching their scent, he had apparently returned to Hermit's Hill and let Ash know she was on her way up. Kobayashi and Koizumi were just fine with that, as it meant they would no longer be getting shot at. They hadn't been fond of getting shot at, none too fond indeed.

Ash made a face. "You're gonna make me be on camera, aren't you?"

Suma nodded with a grin. "I sure am!" And then she remembered her manners and cooled her excitement, "I mean, if thats alright."

Ash sighed. "Sure, fine," he said, but then his eyes went wide and he held up three fingers, "but only on three conditions."

"Uh, what might those be?" Suma inquired.

Ash shook his head and crossed his arms. "Nope. You agree before I tell you what they are, or no deal."

"What?" Koizumi grumbled.

Kobayashi squinted, "I'm not sure you really know what the word 'conditional' means…"

Suma held up a hand to silence them, and nodded to Ash. "Fine. Whatever it is, you got it."

Ash nodded with a smile. "Good," Ash said, holding up his first finger. "First, you don't use our real names."

Suma nodded, she had been expecting that one. "That's fine. What else?"

"Next," Ash continued, holding up his second finger, "You don't tell anyone where we are."

Suma's brow furrowed. She had thought that that might perhaps be his final 'condition', and wondered if he might 'condition' they leave his wife out of it as he was so protective of his privacy. Now she was curious what he might 'condition' next. "Alright. And your last request?"

"I want you to blur my face out," he said with finality. Then his hand went up and he added, "And distort my voice and stuff!"

" _What_?" Koizumi groaned.

"You may as well ask to _not_ be in your own interview," Kobayashi commented sarcastically. Suma turned to Kobayashi, looking at him expectantly. After a moment he shrugged and sighed, exasperated. " _Yes_ , we can do that."

Suma nodded then looked back at Ash. "Alright. We're agreed."

Ash stared at her, clearly frustrated by the position he found himself in. Then, with a sigh, he turned to look at Charizard, who watched them sleepily from the edge of the tree-line behind the house. Charizard burped a flame in Ash's direction, then closed both of his eyes. Ash gave him a look, "Hey now, you come to _my_ home, drink _my_ water, eat _my_ excess food. The only hunting you gotta do out here, you do for fun. I don't ask you for _nothin_ '. So _please…_ do this for me."

Charizard huffed at him, annoyed, and rolled over to continue his nap. Ash growled and dog-piled the Pokemon, wrestling with him. The two grunted, both irritated and amused with each other. "Get _up,_ you lazy old dragon!" Ash grunted. Charizard roared in answer, and the two began wrestling all the more fervently. Eventually, the two had each other in compromising positions, refusing to let go. "I'm not letting go until you agree to help!" Ash cried. Charizard growled in response, clearly irritated.

Suma approached the ridiculous pile of ornery and knelt before the Pokemon's head. She looked intently into his eyes, "This is really important to me, Charizard. I want to be able to help people and Pokemon, and I believe you and your… friend here are really on to something. I know it's kind of silly, and I guess I'll understand if you don't want to… But will you please help me?" Charizard only stared back, but after a few moments seemed to soften. Then he let go of his old friend and trainer, and sat upright, watching Suma with anticipation.

Ash stood up and dusted himself off with a chuckled. With a shake of his head, he looked at Suma, "It seems you're a natural."

Suma gave him a look, "What does that mean? All I did was ask for his help, same as you."

Ash nodded, "Right. And that's the first step— you gave him a _choice_." Suma only stared back at him, and so Ash explained a little more, "I mean, just put yourself in their shoes, Ms. Maki. They're—

Suma held up both of her hands. " _Wait wait wait!"_ she exclaimed. Turning to Kobayashi and Koizumi, "Gear up, boys!" The two men nodded, and hastily began removing equipment from the bags slung about their backs. After a few minutes, Kobayashi was ready with his camera and Koizumi with his boom-pole. They nodded, and Suma turned back to Ash. "Please continue," she said.

Ash made a face, then began, "Try to imagine what Pokemon experience. They're going about their lives with the rest of their kind, living in the wild and surviving off the land. Suddenly, their lives are interrupted and they are snatched away from everything they know. They aren't asked about it, aren't given a choice. And we don't even _think_ about it— we just throw that Pokeball without hesitation."

After a moment Suma nodded, "I guess I never really thought about it."

Ash sighed, "Yeah, I didn't either. My friend, here, was one of the ones to help me understand their predicament. Giving Pokemon a choice changes the nature of the relationship— you are no longer master and pupil, but partners."

Suma nodded. "Well, alright then. So the first step is giving them a choice. What comes next?"

Ash's brow furrowed. "Well, I guess it depends on what you're trying to do."

Suma shrugged, "Well, I don't know. What if we're in a battle?"

Ash crossed his arms and was silent for a few moments. Then he said, "Are you planning to be a trainer?"

"Well, no," Suma answered.

"Then you wouldn't likely participate in any exhibition matches, so," Ash said, "why do you need to know?"

"Keep in mind," Suma reminded him, "this isn't _for_ me." She gestured with a thumb to the camera and microphone behind them. "This is for the public. And there are many trainers who might benefit from your methods."

Ash glanced at the others, then nodded. "Alright. Well, there are several faculties you'd need to consider in a match. They fall under two categories: What you need to know, and what the Pokemon needs to know."

Suma had her little notepad handy and nodded, "Alright, spell them out for us."

Ash listed the items off on his fingers. "First, there's what you need to know. You need to know what the Pokemon is capable of— you need to know their strengths and weaknesses, and you need to know their limits. Next, you need to know their mentality in battle— are they aggressive, cautious? Then, you need to know how to handle a variety of situations— how to handle Pokemon of different types; how to handle matches against Pokemon who are much weaker, or stronger, than you; how to even _gauge_ all of that."

Suma nodded as she notated all of this. "Good, good, this is good. What next?"

Ash reset his counting fingers and proceeded, "Then there's what the Pokemon needs to know. They'll also need to know their capabilities, to be aware of their mentality, and how to navigate different challenges. Some of this they'll know long before you come into the picture, but the rest of it they have to learn— either by experience or by instruction. But in addition to these things, they will have to know your expectations of them for battle protocol. More than that, it will have to be something _mutually agreeable_ to the both of you."

Suma held up a finger as she paused from writing, "Battle protocol? Can you explain this?"

Ash nodded. "The reason both of you need to _know_ all of these things is so that you're both aware of how it all comes together in battle. This is your battle protocol— what techniques are effective when? When is it best to be aggressive, cautious? Is it better to make a decisive victory or to commit to a longer confrontation? These are decisions the trainer tends to make in the moment, and while it makes sense to adapt to each and every unique situation, the Pokemon isn't made aware of these variables _or_ your attitude toward them. They listen to you, obey you, because they are trained to do so. But they aren't trained to _think_ , to _consider_ , to _evaluate_. Much less are they given the opportunity to decide what's important to _them_ in these situations."

Suma nodded, "Ok, that makes sense. It honors the nature of the partnership, allowing them to participate in the decision-making. But don't trainers think through these things as well?"

Ash nodded reluctantly. "Well, yeah, to a point. Trainers typically invest time in honing their Pokemon's skills, in strength and endurance training, and in the execution of certain maneuvers. But they don't always teach their Pokemon to think critically. There's a certain level of dependance on the trainer required for the Pokemon because of this."

"Ok," Suma said as she continued writing. "Can you give me an example of this?"

"Sure," Ash said. "Ever seen a Pokemon battle?" Suma nodded, and he continued. "Almost every step of the Pokemon is dictated by the command of the trainer. The only real pro for this is the control gained by the trainer, but the cons— in my opinion— outweigh any benefit: Their response to split-second challenges in battle is now dependent on your evaluation and provision of a solution; each decision or command is just as audible to your opponents as to your Pokemon; their participation in battle becomes the blatant exchange of blow after blow. To be honest, the only thing they've been _trained_ to do is just what a puppet does: jump when you say jump, move when you say move."

"Alright," Suma said. "So how do _you_ do things then?"

"Well, like I said," Ash replied, "you need a battle protocol. The _real_ work actually happens outside any battle. Once you and your Pokemon understand each other— _and_ yourselves—you'll be able to figure out what works best for you. Obviously it's a continual work in progress, because you face new challenges all the time. But ideally, if you stay in sync and you test the mettle of your practicum, you'll never even have to say a word in battle: your Pokemon will already know what to do."

Suma felt her eyebrows jump. " _Really_?"

Ash scratched the back of his head, "Well, there are exceptions, of course. But the purpose of training should not be to learn obedience, but to learn battle. I mean, everybody goes to school right?" Everyone nodded. "Well, do your teachers need to follow you around to remind you how to read, or break a dollar? No. Why should they?"

Suma looked back at the others, then at Ash. "I guess that really makes a lot of sense, when you think about it. So can you show us how it works?"

Ash scratched his head. "Well, yeah I suppose. But it will be really hard without another Pokemon."

Suma thought about it for a moment, then turned to the others, "Cut!" she said to them. The two fiddled with their equipment as Suma turned back to Ash. "You don't have _any_ other Pokemon we could use for a demonstration?"

Ash shook his head, "I released them all, remember?"

Suma nodded, and began to pace as she mulled it over. She raised a finger, "Maybe you could have Charizard demonstrate your… techniques, on one of these trees?"

"I don't think that would be helpful, to be honest," he said. "The purpose of the training is not to know how to attack, but how to _respond_ to an active opponent. Plus, I'm not interested in creating a forest fire. Not again," he said the last with a narrow-eyed glance at Charizard, who seemed to chuckle nervously.

After a moment, a lightbulb went on in Suma's head. "Well," she said, clapping a fist in her hand, "I guess I'm just going to have to go catch a Pokemon, then."

"Uh, what?" Kobayashi commented, his attention finally called away from his camera.

"Yeah, I don't know about that," Koizumi added.

Ash watched her carefully. "Are you sure about this?"

Suma gave him a look, "Do we really have another option?"

Ash frowned. "If you do this, _you_ will have to take responsibility for the Pokemon. You don't get to just capture it, use it, and then release it."

Suma nodded with a sigh. "I knew you would say that."

"Wait, _why not_?" Kobayashi interjected, standing up.

"Yeah, it's not like we'll be _hurting_ the thing," Koizumi said, joining his friend.

Ash glared at both men, "Listen, you two. How about I sneak up on you one day as you're eating dinner, convert your physical being into a pure energy, stuff you into a little ball for a while, throw you into some arena to do combat with a total stranger, then throw you back into your own environment? You feel pretty good about that?"

Koizumi frowned and raised a finger. "Point taken," he said, sitting back down.

Kobayashi sighed and came to look Suma in the eye. "Suma, _please_ think carefully about this. This isn't like getting a cat. If you do this, and do it _his_ way, your life is going to become _much_ more complicated."

Suma looked at him with a smile. "Do you remember what we talked about that night at the cafe?"

Kobayashi's browed furrowed, and he nodded tightly. "Yes, I do."

"Then you know," she said calmly, "that there's no way I can turn back. If this is what it takes to get this message out there, what it takes to prepare people for what might come, then I _have_ to do it."

Kobayashi turned to look pleadingly at Koizumi, who simply shrugged, resigned to what might follow. Kobayashi sighed. "Fine. Do what you want," he said, returning to sit with Koizumi.

Suma turned back to Ash. "I will accept the responsibility for my decision. I'm moving forward with this."

Ash smiled, though she thought he looked somewhat sad. "I admire your determination, Ms. Maki. Perhaps you can explain your reasons for all this to me when you get back."

"When I get back?" Suma asked.

Ash looked up at the sky. "Well, the sun will set in less than an hour. You don't want to be out trying to capture a Pokemon in the middle of the night. Not without any sort of defense." He gave her an amused look. "They don't exactly come willingly, you know."

Suma nodded. "Ok. Well, any suggestions as to where I should look?"

Ash nodded. "Sure. On your way back towards Cerulean, at the base of the mountain, there's a fork in the river about a mile away from the bridge, where it turns south back towards the city."

"Right, I think I remember the place," Suma said.

"Well, not to many trainers go that far out to train or search for wild Pokemon. I'll bet you find all manner of choices there," he said.

"Great," Suma said, feeling excited. "We'll just have to stop by the Pokemart for a few pokeballs, then we'll head back for the spot."

Ash held up his hand, " _No,_ don't do that. Just… just wait here." And then he peeled off for the house and ran inside.

"What was _that_ about?" Kobayashi wondered out loud. Suma shrugged but didn't answer back. After a minute or two Ash returned from around the corner, carrying a few pokeballs.

"Here," he said, handing them to Suma. "Use these."

She looked down at them, "Uh, what's wrong with the pokeballs at the Pokemart?"

"They're made with technology designed to alter the brain chemistry of Pokemon," he said. "To make them more obedient."

Suma gave him a troubled look. "What? Are you serious? How would you know this?"

Ash smiled sarcastically. "I'm not the only one who thinks the way I do, Ms. Maki. A friend made these pokeballs for me back when I was still a trainer. They don't do anything to the Pokemons' brains."

Suma looked at the pokeballs in her hands, then back at Ash. "How… how do people not _know_ about this? If what you're saying is true… this is kind of _sick_ , Mr. Ketchum."

Ash nodded and put a hand on her shoulder. "Now you're beginning to see why I feel so strongly about it, Suma."

Suma frowned, and nodded in return. "Ok," she said. "I guess I'll be on my way."

* * *

Suma and the others made their way down the mountain and towards the location Ash had mentioned to them. It didn't take them long to find it, and it at first appeared to be just as promising as Ash had said it would be: several miles of tall grass shaded by intermittent trees nestled between the river and the mountainside. The red of the sky danced across the surface of the waters, and seemed to fill the whole area with a warm glow. Suma had never been very aware of the beauty of nature, but as she had begun to explore the other regions she found herself pausing more and more to appreciate each sight carefully.

Her thoughts were interrupted as Kobayashi approached the edge of the tall grass and knelt, making a curious sound. "Well this doesn't look good."

"What, what is it?" Koizumi said, approaching to investigate just whatever it was that had captured his friend's attention.

"Tracks," Kobayashi said, pointing at the spot before him. "And look at the grass, it looks as though it's been disturbed recently."

Koizumi made a face. "What're you, some kind of _tracker_ now? We take him on a hike and he's suddenly a mountaineer."

Kobayashi gave his friend a good thump. "Come on, man. It's really not that hard to see. I'm surprised I didn't notice it before now— it looks like the tracks go all the way back to the path we'd been following up and down the mountain."

"Is that a bad thing?" Suma asked, going to stand behind them.

Kobayashi shrugged. "Well, I don't know. I guess not. But if someone else has already been here, then who knows if they've scared a bunch of the Pokemon away or not."

Suma nodded slowly, "Oh I get it. Well, I guess we'll have to—

 ** _!_**

Suma reeled for a moment as her senses seemed to come unhinged, then return. She shook her head. "Whoo. I guess that hiking really took more out of me than—

 ** _Ahhhhhhh!_**

Again, it was as if her mind did backflips and this time she nearly fell to her knees. "Woah," Kobayashi said, standing to steady her. "Are you alright?"

Suma blinked several times. "Y-yes. But did you guys hear that?"

Kobayashi looked around. "Hear what?"

Suma squeezed her eyes shut and then opened them again, still feeling a little disoriented. "Th-there was a _scream_ , someone screamed."

"What? No, I didn't hear anything," Koizumi said. "Did you, Kobayashi?"

Kobayashi shook his head. "No, I didn't either. Are you sure you're alright, Suma?"

Suma nodded. "Yes, I'm f—

 ** _AHHHHHHH!_**

The scream and its effect were so great that Suma was completely floored, falling forward onto her face. Her vision swam and her hearing felt dampened. Both men knelt beside her, propping her up on her knees and holding her under both arms. "Suma, you are _not_ alright," she heard Kobayashi's voice, though it was muffled.

Her voice felt weak and she wasn't sure she had the muscle strength to get the words out, but she tried anyway, "Its… coming closer. We… we need to m… move back."

"What are you talking about?" Kobayashi asked. But their conversation was cut off as the sound of someone approaching through the grass grew louder. Kobayashi and Koizumi didn't hesitate now and they lifted the young woman as best they could, pulling her back from the grass. It didn't quite reach Kobayashi's shoulders, but it went over Suma's head. So if someone were to be approaching, it should have been evident to them. Suma didn't understand  
why—

Suddenly a figured appeared from within the grass. It was a man, masked with a handkerchief and wearing a long, green trench coat. Behind him he was dragging an Abra, who struggled against his grasp. The man seemed surprised to find them there, but only hesitated a moment before attempting to move off and away from them.

"S-stop him!" Suma pleaded. "He's hurting the Abra!"

Kobayashi and Koizumi glanced at each other, and with a shrug charged off after the man. Koizumi took the man by the wrist, wrenching the Abra from his grasp. As the man turned to deal with Koizumi, Kobayashi came up on him and punched him right in the side of the head. The man staggered from the blow and tumbled to the ground. Clutching the side of his face, he scrambled to his feet, cursed them and ran off.

Kobayashi was about to charge off when Suma stopped him, "N-no, don't. All that matters is that we helped the Abra." She stood up, finding that she was suddenly feeling better. The Abra was curled up in the fetal position, near where Koizumi stood. She moved over to where they were and knelt next to the Abra.  
"Are you sure you're alright?" Koizumi asked her.

She nodded. "I don't know what happened, but it was like I was drugged. Now, it's gone, like nothing happened."

Kobayashi crossed his arms. "Thats really weird," he said nervously.

She nodded, then turned to look at the Abra. "Hi," she ventured, trying to get it's attention. It peeked out from its knees. "Can you understand me?" After a moment, the Abra shuffled a little bit.

 ** _I don't understand the… sounds. But I understand your thoughts._**

Koizumi jumped back. " _Woah,_ I heard _that_."

Kobayashi nodded. "Was that what you were hearing, Suma?"

Suma nodded. "Yes," she said. Turning back to the Abra, "I could hear you from all the way out here. I'm so sorry that man was trying to hurt you."

 ** _Thank you for helping me…_**

"Of course, little one. You're young aren't you?" Suma said, and the Abra seemed to nod, imitating the gesture it had seen her perform. "What was that, that happened to me before? Was that you too?"

 ** _I was trying to make the man's mind get all fuzzy… I don't know how to control it. I'm sorry I hurt you…_**

Suma shook her head and smiled, "You didn't hurt me, and I'm alright. I understand, you were just trying to protect yourself." She stood up and looked around. "Is your… family? Is your family nearby? Maybe we can get you back to them." The Abra made a cooing sound, and what seemed to be tears gathered in its eyes. Suma knelt again, "What's wrong, little one?"

 ** _He hurt them… turned off their minds, and took away their thoughts. Then he… he made them quiet. They wouldn't move or answer me! I don't know why they wouldn't answer me!_**

Suma's hand rose involuntarily to her mouth. Kobayashi looked away as Koizumi asked, "Does that mean… what I think it means?" Kobayashi only nodded.

 ** _They… they are not going to wake up, are they?_**

Suma wrapped her arms around the little Abra as tears began to roll down her cheeks. "No, little one. I'm sorry, but I don't think they will." The Abra shuddered as it pressed into her. It cooed a little now and again, and the moisture in its eyes began to run freely down its face. Suma thought that this must be what it is for a Pokemon to weep. They stayed there like that for several minutes: Koizumi and Kobayashi watching awkwardly while Suma wept with the little Pokemon.

 ** _Take me with you._**

"What?" Suma asked, pulling away a little to look the Pokemon in the eye. "But that… are you—

 ** _That man… I could hear his heart. He wanted to do bad things to me, wants to do bad things to others. It scared me. But you… you heard me, and you wanted to help me._**

Suma felt worry begin to rise. "Are you really sure you want to go with me? You might be stuck with me if you do."

 _ **My daddy, my mommy… everyone is gone. Their hearts were good, not like the man. I can hear your heart. You want to do good things. That means that your heart is good, too.**_

"You're really sure, then?" Suma asked. The Abra seemed to settle a little in her arms, and she knew the tension that wracked it was melting away.

 ** _I'm sure. Maybe you're here because you're supposed to be my new mommy_** **.**

Suma had to choke back tears at that. Kobayashi turned to look at Suma, "I think I recognize that guy, Suma."

Suma looked up, "What? From where?"

Kobayashi shook his head. "I don't know," he said.

"Oh, I recognize him," Koizumi said. "Thats the same guy that burst out of the cafe the other day and knocked you flat on your butt, Suma."

Kobayashi's eyebrows jumped. "What? Are you sure?"

Koizumi nodded. "Oh, yeah. That trench coat sticks out like a sore thumb in these parts. Way too urban."

Suma stood, "Well, that's twice we've seen him then. He must be from around here, or is at last staying in the area if he's not from here. I wonder what he was after…"

Koizumi spoke low, perhaps attempting to keep his words from the young Abra and forgetting it was psychic. "You guys, I'm pretty sure I saw a gun in his other hand."

Suma gave Kobayashi a worried look.


	4. The Storm

**Chapter 4: The Storm**

The next morning, Suma and the others rose shortly after the sun. Kobayashi and Koizumi still complained a little, but they seemed to have resigned themselves to their lot— Suma always favored the early awakening. After stopping by the cafe down the street from the hotel, they turned toward the mountains and made their way up to Hermit Hill. The early morning had been bright and clear but as they climbed Suma thought she heard the distant rumblings of thunder, and the wind howled amidst the pines overhead like a ghastly whistle through misshapen teeth. The forest at that point was far too dense to really get a look at the sky but Suma was certain that a storm was coming, and that it would be a rough one.

Nevertheless, the travelers were somewhat pleased to find that their ascent was becoming easier with each passing. Suma didn't feel nearly as much strain on her body, and she thought that both Kobayashi and Koizumi didn't seem to be panting so much anymore. They didn't stop on their way up either, but climbed steadily and quickly. No doubt, a new sense of urgency had been instilled in them after the events of the night before. It only took them about 45 minutes to make the climb, and as they reached the clearing where Ash and Ami lived, both of them emerged from the house and crossed the open area to meet the travelers. Suma thought they looked worried.

"What happened last night?" Ash asked.

Suma gave him a curious look, "What? Why do you ask?"

Ash stuck a thumb over his shoulder, "Charizard caught a whiff of something unusual again last night, some time after you left. He went out to see if he could find whoever the source is and followed it to the area I had sent you to. I guess he caught your scent intermingled with theirs. So, what happened last night?"

Suma nodded. "Well, we definitely ran into some trouble, thats for sure. When we got there, we ran into a man dragging an Abra through the tall grass."

Ami's eyebrows jumped. " _Dragging_?"

"Yeah," Suma said, "he… he did something to his family, and then the man was taking him away somewhere. I heard the Abra calling out for help and got hit by a few Confuse Rays."

Ash nodded. "Charizard found them… when I asked, Charizard said he couldn't see any wounds, and when I went down there I wasn't able to figure out what happened."

Kobayashi scratched his head. "Well, I guess that means he didn't shoot them."

Ash uncrossed his arms, "He had a gun?"

Kobayashi nodded, pointing to Koizumi, "When our friend here got the Abra away from him, he said he saw a gun in his other hand."

The worry on Ash's face became a little more pronounced. He shared a worried glance with Ami. Looking back at Suma, "Charizard has caught this man's scent over the past few days, and he's apparently come as close as the edge of the clearing. He knows where I live."

Ami crossed her arms and gave her husband a sardonic look, " _Now_ do you see why I like my rifle?"

Ash sighed, but tried to smile at his wife. "Well," he said, looking back at Suma, "I assume you took the Abra for your own, then?"

Suma shrugged. "Actually, he asked to come with me."

"Oh really?" Ash said. "He communicated with you?"

Suma smiled playfully, "He _is_ psychic after all. I hear they're abnormally intelligent compared with other Pokemon."

Ash nodded. "Yeah they—

A sudden peal like the sound of a thunderclap cut through the air, and the entire group ducked instinctively. They turned to find a figure standing perhaps 100 feet from them, just beyond the edge of the clearing. He wore a long, green trench coat, a strange hat, and was masked with a handkerchief. Suma felt fear cut her to the heart, because even though she hadn't gotten a good look at him in her befuddled state, she knew that this was the same man from last night. He must have been following them this whole time, and they had no idea. The entire group remained frozen as the man crossed the distance between them, his gun pointed in their general direction.

His voice was muffled through the makeshift mask, but the danger in his tone was perfectly clear to them, "Bring me the most powerful Pokemon you have."

Ami clutched at her husbands arm. "I left my rifle inside," she whispered.

"Don't even think about it," the man said, cocking the gun. "Now, do as I've said."

Ash stepped in front of Suma and his wife, pulling Koizumi and Kobayashi to each of his sides. Ash shook his head, "No."

The man only hesitated for a moment before turning his gun on Koizumi and firing. The boom operator had no time to react, and the bullet took him through the heart, sending him sprawling several feet back. Blood spattered upon the bullet's impact and sprinkled the bystanders with crimson. It only took a moment for them to realize what had just happened, and Kobayashi sprinted towards where Koizumi lay motionless. He lifted his head onto his lap and fondled desperately for a pulse. For several moments he kept at it until it must have been clear that his friend was gone. "Arceus, _no!"_ he cried. He looked up at the shooter, his face contorted with rage and pain. Suddenly he rose and charged the man, screaming as fearsomely as he could.

"Kobayashi, _don't!"_ Suma cried, but vainly. Kobayashi didn't get but a few feet past where Suma and the Ketchum's stood— the man turned his gun on him as well, and fired. The bullet caught him right in the forehead, throwing the man's upper body backward as the momentum of his lower body continued to carry the rest of him forward. His legs spilled out beneath him and he tumbled to the ground and rolled for a foot or two, and then he lay unmoving and silent. Suma felt a scream catch in her throat as she realized that both of her friends had just been murdered before her eyes.

The man turned his gun back on Suma and the others, and he repeated his previous demand, "Bring me your most powerful Pokemon. Now." He turned his gun towards where Ami stood and added, "Or it's your wife who gets it next, _Mr. Yamamoto._ "

Ash scowled at the man, "What are you going to do?"

The man chuckled, almost obnoxiously, and pulled some kind of device from his coat, something like an oversized television remote. "That's none of your business. You've got three seconds to make your choice." And he cocked the pistol as he counted silently.

Suma's jaw dropped and her eyes went wide. That expression... "T-Takahashi?"

The man's eyes flicked over to where she stood, and the confidence in his stance seemed to waver a little. Then he reached up and tore the kerchief from his face and threw the hat away as well. Before them stood an aged, Johtoan man of about 50 years. Gray had begun to overrun the black in his hair, and the severity of his expression was made disgusting by the smirk that was plastered across his face. Suma had recognized the man's voice, but especially the expression he favored when pressuring his employees to do as he asked. He was her supervisor at Kotobuki TV, the very man who had given her this assignment, and his name was Takahashi. "Well, fancy that," the man said with a chuckle. "I didn't expect you to recognize me, Ms. Maki."

Suma stared at the man, half in shock, "What are you _doing_ here, Takahashi? And _why_ are you _doing_ this?"

The man scoffed, "Why do you think I gave you this assignment? Because it was interesting?" Takahashi chuckled. "I'm certainly a fine administrator, but I'm no detective. There was no way I was going to find Mr. Yamamoto, here, not without a little help."

"Wait, you know about Ash?" Suma asked.

Takahashi grinned, "Ash? Is _that_ his real name? My, but you've done your work well. I didn't even have the name _Yamamoto_ until you gave it to me. I could just sit back and wait for you to lead me right to him. My employer will be so pleased when I return with his prize."

"What do you want with my Pokemon?" Ash demanded.

The man laughed genuinely, "I didn't come for your Pokemon, you stupid hick. I came for _you_. I only want your Pokemon as a means of controlling you."

Ash smirked, "I'd be very surprised if _any_ Pokemon will heed your command."

The man held the device in his hand up, grinning all the more widely, "That's what this is for." He looked at the screen, "And I can see that you have one nearby… out of it's Pokeball, even! A Charizard, if I'm reading this right. My, oh my, but my job is just getting easier and easier. Now, let's see here." Keeping his gun pointed at them, he began to fiddle with the device. It made several beeping sounds, and Takahashi mumbled incoherently as he played with it. Then his face lit up as a long beep emitted from the device, "Ah, there we go." And with the push of a button, the long beep became a piercing screech. Suma and the others instinctively covered their ears. But even through their covered ears they could hear the roar from behind the house.

The force of an explosion behind them threw them to the ground, but somehow Takahashi kept his feet. When Suma turned to look behind her, she realized that Ash's house was engulfed in flames. Ami nearly lept up and ran for the house, but Ash grabbed at her to stop her, "No, _don't_ Ami!" he cried. She looked back at him, tears in her eyes. "There's nothing we can do now," he said. A roar from within the flames paralyzed them and stole their attention. And from the roaring blaze a gargantuan figure emerged. Powerful legs, strong arms equipped with dire claws, wings that span the full height of two men, a terrible and gaping jaw wreathed in fire, and eyes glazed over as if abandoned of soul. This was Charizard, but not the Charizard they had known.

Ash looked over his shoulder at Takahashi as he knelt before the ashes of his home and his somehow molested friend. "What have you _done?"_ he roared.

Takahashi grinned his disgusting grin, holding up the device in his hand again. "My employer has had his scientists working on this little thing for some time, now. This is the first of the alpha series, completed just in time for our little trip. Say, thats a good name for it— Alpha. Well, through super and subsonic frequencies, it allows me to control the minds of Pokemon. Although," he paused, examining his device, "it doesn't seem to have much effect on psychic Pokemon. But that's alright, the guys in the lab will take care of that."

Suma gave him an incredulous look. " _What_ lab? What does Kotobuki have to do with this?"

Takahashi spit at the name, "Thank Arceus my assignment is complete, I can't stomach that _dreadful_ place a minute longer. And no, foolish girl, I'm not talking about Kotobuki TV. I'm talking about the man who owns it, who saw fit to assign me to this little post to achieve his ends." His dour expression lightened a little, "And I suppose for good reason, as things have worked out just as he hoped they would." With a shrug, he pushed a button on the device and Charizard crossed the distance between the house and Takahashi, coming to stand before his controller. "Now, get up and come with me, or I will have this Charizard here mutilate the corpses of these two young ladies."

Ash looked at the two women, and then back at his home. Ash raised his hands in a gesture of surrender, "I-I'll come with you, but please, _please_ don't kill them."

Takahashi laughed cruelly. "Oh, come now. You must realize that I can't let either of them live, they've seen my face. No, I'm going to kill them once you get out of the way. It's the responsible thing to do, really."

Ami tugged at her husbands shirt, and he looked back at her. "Don't do it," she urged. "It would be better for all three of us to _die_ , then for them to get whatever they want."

Takahashi grinned, "But that's not so at all! Why, we've got _wondrous_ plans in store for you, Mr. Yamamoto. All those old _friends_ of yours, we'll have a grand old reunion," he gestured lavishly at these words, "and we'll take the world _by storm_." He began to laugh at the last.

As he was distracted, Ami rose and attempted to rush him. Perhaps she thought to grab his handgun or the device, in hopes to rescue them from their trap. It all happened so fast that neither Suma nor Ash could even cry out before it was too late. Ami rose and took off, only to be met by Charizard. His claws like steely daggers, he plunged his hand into her abdomen. His claws emerged from the backside of her body, and she struggled for a few moments trying to free herself before she vomited blood and her body went limp. Charizard flung her lifeless body aside and it rolled away several feet, coming to a still and silent heap.

" _NO!"_ Ash cried.

He began to move towards his wife's body when Takahashi fired his gun a few feet in front of Ash, stopping him. "I don't think so, youngster. We don't have time for all that mourning and weeping and whatnot."

Ash glared at the man, tears pouring down his face. "You'll reget this," he said through gritted teeth.

"Oh, my boy," Takahashi said, amused, "whatever are you going to do?"

Suddenly a lightbulb went on in Suma's head. She fumbled in her pocket, hoping it hadn't rolled out amidst all of the commotion— and there it was. She took a deep breath, knowing that what she was about to do was absolutely crazy. But it was this… or something far worse, for everyone. Suma stood, staring down Takahashi with all the confidence she could muster. "This has gone on long enough, Takahashi."

The man turned his attention to her with a smile, "I quite agree." He gestured with his pistol off to his right, "Would you mind moving off over there a bit? I want to be sure I don't accidentally shoot Mr. Yamamoto here. He's precious cargo, you understand."

Suma shook her head. "I'm not doing anything you say. And pretty soon, neither will Charizard." She thrust her hand in her pocket and removed the pokeball, throwing it a few feet in front of her. " _Go, Abra!"_ she cried.

The pokeball burst open and from it came a flash of red. The red energy began to take shape, and suddenly a Pokemon was standing before them. After releasing the Abra, the pokeball returned to the hand of its caster, and Suma grinned. Takahashi dropped his gun at the sight and began laughing hysterically, pounding his knee. "Are you _serious_?" he chided, standing back up. "It's not like that's a particularly _special_ Abra, I was just dragging him back so I could play with the device a little and figure out why it killed his little herd instead of ensnared them."

"I don't care what you think of him," Suma said, looking to Abra. "I'm confident he's enough to stop _you_." Abra looked back at her, and she wondered if she saw a smile in his eyes.

 ** _Thank you for believing in me_** **.**

Takahashi picked up his gun and put it on safety. "Actually, this could be rather amusing. I haven't really had the chance to test the Alpha Machine in a real Pokemon battle." He grinned over at Charizard and began fiddling with his device.

"Do you need me to explain all of this to you?" she asked Abra. "I'd understand if you were scared." Abra shook his head, imitating again a gesture he had seen her use.

 ** _I can see your minds, I already know. I am scared… but I'd be more scared if the bad man got what he wanted._**

"So would I," Suma said, frowning. "So would, I."

 ** _Don't talk anymore. The bad man wants to hear what you'll try to do. I can hear you inside._**

Suma nodded. _Ok_ , she thought. _How do we do this?_ Takahashi seemed to be nearly finished, so they needed to hurry.

 ** _I will join our minds. You will see what I see, feel what I feel, know what I know. It will be like you are me, and like I am you, but we'll be somebody else entirely. I don't know anything about battling, so it will be better this way._**

 _I don't know anything either!,_ she responded. _I'm just as new to this as you are._

 ** _You trust me. So let me trust you._**

Suma hesitated, but then nodded. Takahashi made a satisfied sound and looked up. "Ok, ok, let's get this over with. I don't have _all_ day." Suma looked up at the gray overhead, and wondered what it would be like to look through the eyes of a Pokemon. She didn't have to wonder long, because suddenly everything seemed to shift, and the gray went black as her mind went vacant.

* * *

It did not know what to call it's self. It had once been a human, once been a Pokemon. Abra, Suma; Suma, Abra… It was two things at once, and one thing twice, and then something else entirely! What do you call a thing made from a Pokemon named Abra and a human named Suma? Suma Abra? No, that was too long. Abrama? now that just sounded silly. The child in it was amused with this, but the fully grown woman thought better of it. Sumbra, Abramus… Sumabra. That was it. It would call itself Sumabra.

The world suddenly took on color, and before it stood the bad man and Charizard. It looked down at its three fingered hands, and clutched them into fists. It shook it's legs about a little, getting a feel for how all of it worked. It remembered having a tail before, but then it was still a little different. So many new sensations… It looked back up at Charizard. Sumabra felt sadness in it's heart for Charizard. To have one's mind shut off like that, taken over… it wasn't just mean, it was evil. The bad man didn't understand, _couldn't_ understand just what that device really was doing to Charizard's brain. Sumabra would have to be fast.

The bad man was yelling at Charizard, and wanted him to hurt Sumabra. But Sumabra didn't feeling getting hurt today. No thank you, Mr. Bad Man. Sumabra tried to do that thing Suma saw people do, where they fold their fingers together and make cracking sounds. It didn't work, which Sumabra figured would be the case. But that was alright, Sumabra just liked the novelty of the gesture. Now it was time to… do the things! Sumabra shook it's head. It would have to work on the catch phrases if it was going to be a _real_ superhero!

Charizard charged forward, spitting flames, but Sumabra was left untouched. It didn't know too many techniques— only one it could use confidently and another Abra had accidentally discovered in his panic the other day. But it only needed the one, anyway. Sumabra used teleport, and moved from where it had been standing to several feet off to the left. The bad man yelled at Charizard for missing, and Charizard roared in response as it turned around and spit another blast at Sumabra. Sumabra teleported again, reappearing right on top of Charizard. Seated on his shoulders, Sumabra tried to thump Charizard in the head. Maybe it could make Charizard go to sleep and then the bad man couldn't do anything to him anymore!

But that didn't work, Charizard just got real mad and tried to scratch Sumabra. Sumabra would have to rethink this one. Sumabra teleported away, standing next to the sad man. Sumabra had almost forgotten he was even there. He was thinking about the machine, was thinking about trying to steal it while Sumabra was having it's match with Charizard. Hey, thats a great idea. Sumabra teleported to where the man was standing, took hold of the machine thingy, and then teleported back to where the sad man was. Thank goodness Sumabra didn't understand the noises the bad man was making, because he was thinking some very mean things about Sumabra right now. If it could, it might even have blushed.

Sumabra looked at the machine. Even it's human self didn't know much about this stuff. But that was ok. It still had an idea. It would try out the other thing after all! Sumabra tried to make a Confuse Ray, but it had to stop for a moment as Charizard spat another flame at where it stood. It teleported a few feet away, and tried again. Gah! It just wasn't working. Sumabra wasn't scared enough to make it work… how could that be Sumabra's fault? Sumabra shook it's head. Maybe it was going about this the wrong way. Charizard spat another flame at Sumabra, and suddenly it all became clear. Sumabra let go of the device just before teleporting again, and the device was consumed in the flames.

It's effects wore off immediately! Charizard was suddenly seeming to feel himself, albeit _super_ confused (not Sumabra's fault!), the sad man seemed a little happier for a moment, and the badman got _real_ mad. Good. Sumabra didn't like the bad man. Not one bit. The sad man asked Charizard to get the bad man, and Charizard listened gladly. Charizard took hold of the bad man's arms and held him real still, so he couldn't go anywhere. Boy could he get mad! He was going to be even _madder_ once the sad man had Charizard bring him to the place called jail. Neither Suma nor Abra had ever seen one, but Suma apparently knew enough about it for Sumabra to know that it was not a fun place, no sir. Not a fun place at all.

The sad man turned around to look to where the lady lay on the ground. Abra didn't get to meet the lady, but Suma did. Suma thought Abra would have liked the lady, that she seemed very nice. Loving, was the word Suma used, like a very good friend to the sad man. The sad man knelt next to the lady, and picked her up and held her real close, just like Suma did for Abra when Abra was sad. Sumabra wanted to help the sad man feel better, but it wasn't sure it would be able to do that right now. He was just… _so_ sad, and no wonder, after losing _both_ of his best friends because of bad things.

And bad things were going to keep happening, Sumabra realized. The bad man knew about many things, more of those machines being made and plans to use them to hurt Pokemon and make people do things they didn't want to do. Sumabra didn't like these plans. Now Sumabra understood why the sad man decided to stay away from other people. A lot of people seemed to want to make him do some very bad things.

Sumabra looked up at the sky. It was really really gray, and made thundery sounds as rain began to come down. That was good, maybe it would put out the fire. And as the rain began to pour, Sumabra knew that the _real_ storm was still coming.


	5. Author's Notes, Background, Questions

**Note from the Author**

Hello! I hope you have enjoyed reading the first installment in my PokeWar trilogy. I wanted to give you a _little_ background information, and perhaps touch on a few questions you might have now that you've read this. First I'm going to give you a little information about the conception of the work on the whole. Then I will touch on a few specifics concerning the universe in which this story occurs. The reason I want to do this is that the trilogy will be composed of three short stories at four chapters each. There is information and material that simply _won't_ be expounded upon fully in the story itself, but it might be referred to for the sake of substance in both plot development as well as character development. While you should be able to make several inferences yourself about this extended material, I _would_ like to just highlight some of that for you now so that you can enjoy the next two installments equipped with helpful (while, perhaps, auxiliary) information!

 _Note: I will not be revealing anything of the plot which you cannot draw directly or infer from the story as it is thus far. **So, fear not if you hesitate for spoilers— there are none!**_

 **PokeWar— Background**

As you might surmise, this story occurs in a universe where the various regions of the globe are aware of the presence and of the events that occur upon their territories. Just as we are affected by wars or tragedies that occur in other countries, so it is in this world— the events that are shown to take place in the games and in the movies still occur in their proper places, but their affects are no longer limited to their regions alone. The regions (or countries, if you will) are aware of each other's successes and struggles.

This takes a specific form in one of the central characters of the Pokemon franchise: Ash Ketchum. The games and movies sometimes revolve around different protagonists, and the events that occurred may not have involved him at all. But in this universe, the role of "player" in game events or "protagonist" in film/television events has been occupied by Ash. He has experienced _everything_ you have played through or watched. Further than that, he has actually _aged_ with time, as they all have.

A little more on the world itself. Each region has a particularly unique culture, history, and series of mindsets. Some of these aspects are borrowed directly from existing cultures, and you might be able to guess for yourselves just _which_ region has this or that in common with _that_ culture. Just know that, while you might be able to make these connections, it's not really that important to do so. What does matter is the distinction between the peoples of one region and another. For example, Kanto is portrayed to be a very rural place, less urbanized and domesticated than other parts of the world. While Johto, with its climbing towers and technologically focused economy, is a _much_ more urban place. And the mannerisms of the people who live in these places differ not only because of the differences in their history, but also the differences in their environment.

Because of the nature of awareness amidst this series of events, the world has felt the blows of each conflict. Again, it is in many ways like our own world. Uprisings of this criminal organization over here, cataclysms over there. The world has been shaken over the past thirty years by an onslaught of both incredible and terrible events. And unlike the more child-protective series children follow, these events have real consequences for the people involved— loss of life. These incredible Pokemon have incredible affects on the world, and when monsters wage war it's the lambs who are slain. And these wanton criminal organizations do not fumble about or snap their fingers and storm off when you won't give them their way— they hurt you. They kill you.

These events have taken their toll upon the world, and have in many ways set apart one generation of people from another. Again, much like our own world, the growing generation is affected by the calamity amongst which they have grown. The main character likens all of it to a time in their world's history when the regions were "feuding"— a time that occurs "perhaps 1000 years ago or so". The details of this Feuding Era are not important, and will neither be relevant to or expounded upon in the installments to follow. What _is_ important is acknowledging that _real_ conflict hasn't troubled their world in a long time. Which is why the reader might be given a window into the history of this world— a great and terrible storm is coming, and so much of the past thirty years has only been leading up to it.

 **Potential Questions**

There are a couple questions I have attempted to prompt, and some that you just might have. If the answer isn't in the story, then (again) I'm not going to answer it for you here. _But_ , I thought I would touch on them anyway.

Q: Where is this or that character that I love?

A: If you don't see them, or they aren't in the least bit referred to in the story, then they aren't relevant at this point. Some character's fates are set to be revealed in the upcoming installments, but only a few of these details will be relevant to the plot. And if it isn't obvious at this point just which one's I referring to… well, I wouldn't know what to do for you. haha.

Q: Will there be character death? Is anyone safe?  
A; The answer to these questions is yes, and no. Yes, characters are going to die. I have not devoted any time to charting out which characters (presently revealed or no) are going to die how/when/etc. And I have kept it this way because I want to treat the development of these stories as organically as possible. I may bring a character into a unique challenge, but just because they have played a pivotal role thus far in the plot (or in the plot of the franchise), that does not mean they will emerge unscathed. It's not that I'm going to flip a coin and just decide whether this or that character dies, mind you. I want to be conscious of the variables in these situations, and really consider whether or not this or that character _actually would_ survive.  
This should also give you understanding about the second question, as no, no one is safe per se. Such is war.

Q: What year is it?  
A: The times and dates of many events aren't specified, but referred to generally across a handful of decades or centuries. Some will be timed and dated, but for the moment I don't have any plans to refer to or make important use of the present events occurring in any given year. Thus, just consider the events that are occurring to be at "present day".

I think this is all I really wanted to touch on as far as questions go for right now. If you _have_ any questions that might be pertinent, or you might just like clarified, please feel fee to submit them with a review to the story! I might just alter this and let you know that your question and its answer has been posted.

 **Farewell**

Goodbye for now! My last little treat for you is to reveal the titles of both Volume 2 and 3! I hope you will look forward to them!

 _ **Coming Soon**_

 **PokeWar, Volume 2: Cataclysm**

 **PokeWar, Volume 3: The Resistance**


End file.
